Sweet Illusion: How to Make Cupcakes Look Like Cheeseburgers

Samara Mackereth

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Katie's Take•July 22, 2013

Sweet Illusion: How to Make Cupcakes Look Like Cheeseburgers

Katie's Take

You don’t have to pay high-end prices to get professional-looking gourmet cupcakes at home. Sisters Katherine Berman and Sophie LaMontagne, co-founders of the popular Georgetown Cupcake bake shop and are stars of the hit TLC show, DC Cupcakes, share their creative tips to turn your cupcakes from bland to mini works of art.

One of their favorite summer recipes is for “cheeseburger” cupcakes.

“It’s a fun way to decorate cupcakes for a summer barbeque, throw a picnic with your family, really fun to do with your kids. And super easy,” said LaMontagne.

While there is no meat in this treat; by using simple ingredients like banana cupcakes for the bun, chocolate cupcakes for the burger patty, and colored frosting to fill in for real tomato, lettuce, and cheese, you can make your own cheeseburger cupcakes at home with no more effort than it would take to bake and frost a traditional cupcake.

If you are feeling more adventurous, one of the sisters’ other favorite creative confections is a combination of two classic desserts: cupcakes and soft serve ice cream.

You can bake “ice cream cone” cupcakes in the oven by scooping batter into a plain ice cream cone and then frosting them to look like soft serve ice cream. To top off your artwork you can decorate with any extra ingredients that you’d like on top, like multi-colored sprinkles.

And for the supreme ice cream fan, LaMontagne and Berman share their popular banana split cupcake recipe. By cutting a hole in a banana cupcake and adding hot fudge, you can top the cake off with vanilla frosting, sprinkles, chopped nuts, and, of course, a cherry on top.

But if you are a novice baker who is ends up with frosting everywhere but the cupcake, the baking experts have a simple tip.

“Start in the middle, go around in a circle, and end with a burst of pressure right in the middle,” LaMontagne advises.

But the best part of the baking experience? Watching your hard work pay off by enjoying your delicious and beautiful creations!